The Psychology of Man

I am going to share with you a very special hidden mystery. To unlock this hidden mystery requires that you have the key. The key that unlocks this mystery, and in fact all biblical mysteries, is faith. The world cannot see into the mysteries of God because the world doesn’t have the key. The world can’t see beyond its borders. This is God’s way of sharing his delights with those that belong to him, while keeping it a mystery to those that should not understand them. God is a God of faith, and those that are his are by definition children of faith.

Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (NIV84)

The joy of seeing into any mystery of God is glorious. Sometimes when I finally see into something that I have been looking for I get so excited that I dance around the room like a loon, with a silly grin on my face. At those times I am sure that the Lord is pleased as well. We are enjoying the bond that is between us. It is like a loving parent and loving child that both discover that they each love the same good thing.

The mystery I am referring to now is the hidden second nature of man, his spirit nature, what we call the soul. Do you know that God has a soul? He does (see Isaiah 1:14.) In fact, God’s soul is exactly like ours. We were created to be God’s soul mates. There is nothing more pleasurable than to be with the one that you were meant to be with.

Genesis 1:26–27Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (NIV84)

God made man to be like himself. In every sense of the word, we are God’s actual children. We are God’s children inside, not outside.

Genesis 2:7…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV84)

This is a poetic depiction of the moment that God transformed a man, a Homo sapiens, if you like, into a duel natured hybrid being, having both an animal nature and a Godlike spirit nature. I want you to notice, in the above Scripture, that the man was a man before God transformed him. Before God transformed the man he was a human being. The transformation did not affect man’s human nature, but rather the Lord God hid a being that was like himself inside the man. The man became something that had never been, a Godlike spirit being, and that new spirit being lived inside an animal body. The important point here is that the body is relatively unimportant, and the spirit is all important, because it is the spirit nature that makes it possible for man to be a son or daughter of God Almighty (see John 4:24 & Luke 3:38). Understand also that not one of the children of God evolved on earth. The children of God are spirit beings and they were hidden by God within the bodies of Homo sapiens.

A point of this that you should consider is that there can be no fossil record of the creation of the sons and daughters of God, because the origin and existence of such is one hundred percent spiritual. Science can only see the body. Science cannot see what God did with respect to the soul of man. The soul is an independent supernatural creation—it is a mystery.

When I say that the key that unlocks this mystery is faith what I mean is that you must believe God when he reveals any mystery to you from the Scriptures. All of the pieces of this mystery are hidden in the Bible, and you must search them out and accept them for what they are, for what they say. If you believe in God then you will accept whatever he tells you, because you understand that he knows what he is revealing, and you cannot know spiritual things unless the spiritual God reveals them to you. Have faith in God because he knows the spiritual you.

Now, armed with the understanding of this duel nature of man mystery, you can understand that man has two minds. Man’s spirit nature has a mind, which God calls the heart, and his body has a mind, which the Bible simply calls the mind, and the body’s mind is a product of the brain’s activity. The world calls the body’s mind the conscious mind and it calls the mind of the spirit the subconscious mind.

Speaking of the conscious mind, I want to share with you another mystery, that is, the mystery of your consciousness, your sentience, your self-aware nature, the nature that makes you a being, the nature that has a personal name. Man is the only sentient self-aware being on the earth, and that is because of his spirit nature, his spiritual heart, as it were. It is man’s spirit nature that sets him apart from all other life on earth, not his bigger brain. The human brain is like a fantastically powerful computer, but it only does what it’s programmed to do. Without a spirit nature man would only be a very smart ape, not a son of God. In the Garden of Eden God took a really smart ape, a Homo sapiens male, and he “breathed” into him a spirit nature, and the really smart ape became a “living being”, that is, an eternal self-aware spirit being. My friend, you have the key within you to unlock this mystery if you will only listen to the Bible, for that is what faith in God is—it enables us to believe God. Do you really imagine that a really smart ape could ever be a son of God? It is the spirit nature of man that was created in the image and likeness of God, not the animal nature (Genesis 2:7).

Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. (NIV84)

God is not an animal, he is a spirit (see John 4:24). We are not really animals either. He do have animal bodies, at the present time, but the eternal part of us that will remain after the death of the body, is spirit. It is that part of us that we must be very careful of, for it is the real us. It is the conscious us. It is the part of us that makes us truly alive. It is the part of us that has a name. Hello, my dear readers. My name is Mark and I have a body. One day my body will be laid to rest, but I shall continue on to be with my Lord and Savior, for he has gone on before me to prepare a place for me.

John 14:1–4“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” (NIV84)

This passage is not talking about your body. Jesus has promised a place for the self-aware person that I am. He has promised a place for my spirit person, the real me—the eternal me.

Proverbs 4:23Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (NIV84)

Man with his refusal to listen to God has made a fundamental error concerning his consciousness. Man calls the mind of the body his conscious mind and the mind of the spirit the subconscious mind, when it is really the spirit mind that makes him conscious of his mental activities. This error is rather ironic when you stop and think about it.

Every animal’s body has a mind within its brain, but no animal is conscious of its own thinking. Only man has a spiritual mind, and only man is conscious of his mental activities. It is with our inner, true mind that we are conscious of our mental activity that resides within our brains. Our true being exists independent of and outside of our brains, and it is the true eternal person that sees ourselves.

Those who ignore their spiritual nature can’t see beyond the natural universe because they are living mostly in their minds and it is impossible for the mind to see into the spirit. Those who have listened to God have opened up their hearts and with the heart can see beyond the world. We, the children of God, can step back and see both heaven and the physical universe.

Our spiritual mind is called by science the subconscious mind, and is called the subconscious mind because it’s generally thought that its workings are below our ability to control consciously. This, however, is not really true. We are in fact conscious of the thoughts of the spirit’s mind. It just seems like we are not conscious of its thoughts because the thoughts of the spirit are very different than those of the brain.

The body’s mind thinks of worldly things, and the spirit’s mind thinks of spiritual things. When I word it like this it might seem very obvious, but because of people’s general ignorance of all things spiritual it tends not to be so obvious after all. The brain is connected to the body and so everything to do with the body is processed in the brain. Our natural human instincts are also products of the physical body and so the brain thinks along those lines too.

In our hearts we ponder spiritual matters such as morality. The brain doesn’t care about right and wrong, but the spirit surely does.

1 Corinthians 13:13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV84)

This is God’s way of poetically telling us that faith, hope and love are eternal and therefore spiritual. The love in this sentence is not emotional love, but rather speaks of the very nature of God. God is love, he works in faith, and gives hope.

Romans 5:3–5Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV84)

Here we see all three spiritual forces at work within our hearts. As we put our faith in God’s very nature, that is, in love, we are fortified by our faith in that love and so the end we hope for we receive, because we know that love cannot fail. This, my friends, is spiritual thinking. This is how the spiritual mind is intended to think. Such thinking is not subconscious at all, but rather just different and not related to the body.

What we must understand is that our true selves, our spiritual selves, were created by God in his image and likeness, and therefore we are designed by him to operate in our thinking in a manner that is consistent with God’s own nature. God’s nature is ultimately our nature, our inside nature, that is, not in our bodies nor in our brains, but in our hearts.

When we were infants, and later as young children, and then still later as young people, we were ruled by our physical bodies, but this must not continue.

1 Corinthians 13:11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (NIV84)

Inside we are much more than intelligent animals. We have been called by God to ascend far above the call of nature and take our places as God’s coworkers. We must rise above the body’s desires and assume our rightful place alongside our Father in the family business.

1 Corinthians 13:12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (NIV84)

Yes, it is true that we cannot see clearly the things of God, but in our hearts we can sense them. It is imperative that we follow the dictates of our inner mind because ultimately we are our inner mind.

We must be faithful to our true nature. We were created in the image and likeness of God and unless we are obedient to God’s nature we will be setting up irresolvable conflicts within us. Such conflicts can result in a level of instability within us that can eventually lead to a total breakdown of who and what we truly are. It seems likely to me that all forms of mental illness occur because of an imbalance within our true selves. Further, I see that addiction also has its roots in a conflicted heart. God promises peace to those who seek and find him. A peaceful mind is not conflicted. A peaceful mind is where it should be. When I use the word peace in this context I am referring to a peaceful relationship between yourself and God—being in harmony with love.

Ephesians 2:10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV84)

We are children of selfless love. That is our true nature. That is the nature of our hearts within us. As we act in a selfless manner, we are allowing our true spiritual nature to have dominion over us. Our body will lose its power over us as we obediently do this, then the fruit of God’s spirit will fill us to overflowing.

This fruit of God’s Spirit will become ours. These words will define us. This is what we were made to be like. This is the way to become completely healthy inside and out.

1 John 4:16
God is love. (NIV84)

Love is the nature of God.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV84)

Inside, our natural nature is love. This is what our spiritual selves crave. We can only become what we should be, through the use of spiritual methods, that is in hope, by faith through the power of divine love.

Romans 8:5–8Those who live according to the sinful nature [think human instincts] have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man [dominated by the body] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (NIV84)

My friends, we are not what we appear to be. We are so much more. We are not animals—not really. We are not dominated by our physical instincts. We are truly spirit beings that are hidden within animal bodies, and it is that spirit person who the Bible is speaking to. What happens to the body is so unimportant when compared to what happens to the real you, the self-aware you. You were created by God to be exactly like him. You must stop contending with the world and rise up to take your place among the sons and daughters of God. God is love and you will not truly be at peace until you become a being of love too.